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Obituary for Marcella Burns

Marcella  Burns
Southbury, CT Marcella Anne (O’Connor) Burns, 100, the widow of Thomas Francis Burns, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, January 24, 2017.

Marcella was born in Fort Madison, Iowa on January 16, 1917, where she resided until her marriage, when she moved to Naugatuck. Marcella was a former communicant of St. Francis of Assisi Church, and a past member of the Naugatuck Council of Catholic Women. For approximately 25 years, Marcella was a fifth grade teacher at Central Avenue School in Naugatuck, and she took great pride in the success of her students. Retirement gave her the opportunity to pursue a new love, gardening, which was introduced to her by the Naugatuck Gardening Club, where she served as club secretary. Marcella was an avid reader and served as the secretary for Friends of the Howard Whittemore Memorial Library. Serving in both of these secretarial positions was a source of great pleasure for Marcella. Eventually she moved to The Hearth in Southbury, where she has lived for the past 15 years.

Marcella is survived by her children, Attorney John H. Burns and his wife Christina of Sarasota, FL; Thomas F. Burns and his wife Elaine of Columbia, CT; Jane Ann Cross and her husband Stephen of Bethlehem, CT and Eileen Wenzel and her husband the Honorable William J. Wenzel of Southport, CT. She was the proud grandmother to William Wenzel and his wife Lei-Lani; Christopher Wenzel and his fiancé Kathryn Erickson; Elizabeth Bechtold and her husband Justin; Matthew Burns; Caitlin Jane Cross and her fiancé Cem McAvoy; Attorney Ashley Purdy and her husband Jason and Sarah Burns and her fiancé David Laurello. Marcella is also survived by her great grandchildren, Sophia Purdy; Luke Bechtold and Charlotte Jane Wenzel. In addition to her husband and her parents, Marcella was predeceased by her two brothers and two sisters.

Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, January 28, 2017 at 10:00am at the Buckmiller Thurston Mengacci Funeral Home, 82 Fairview Avenue, Naugatuck. Burial will follow in St. James Cemetery, Naugatuck. Family and friends may call at the funeral home on Saturday from 9:30 to 10:00am. To honor Marcella’s memory, contributions can be made to the Howard Whittemore Memorial Library, 243 Church Street, Naugatuck, CT 06770 or to the Southbury Public Library, 100 Poverty Road, Southbury, CT 06488.

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